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Keeping Track of Revenue

As an accounting major in college, I quickly learned all of the complicated parts of the accounting cycle. I discovered how to input the details of business transactions into a computerized accounting system. At the end of an accounting cycle, such as a month, I became experienced with calculating the revenue for the period. If you’re starting a new business, determining an accurate amount of revenue for each accounting cycle is crucial. You must know how much profit you’re making each accounting period in order to be successful in the long-term. On this blog, you will discover how an experienced accountant can help you keep track of your revenue.

Keeping Track of Revenue

3 Bookkeeping Tips Every Self-Publishing Author Needs To Know

by Avery Jenkins

There are just as many authors out in book world these days that take publication into their own hands and self-publish their works instead of working with a formal publishing company. While this gives you more control over what you write and when you write it, as well as how much profit you get to keep, going at this alone will involve something you may have not ever needed: careful attention to bookkeeping. Keeping tabs on your finances as a self-publishing author are going to be hugely important. Here's a look at three good bookkeeping tips every self-publishing author needs to know.

1. Stay on top of your finances right from the start.

In 20 months, self-published author Amanda Hocking made 2.5 million dollars with her books. She went from trying to raise just a little money to make a trip to being a millionaire in less than two years. This may be a hugely unique situation, but you could easily go from making a meager bit of money to being an overnight success, bringing in more money than you know how to contend with where accounting is concerned. Even though starting out you probably won't be raking in loads of cash, you do need to keep a detailed accounting record of what you spend, what you make, and your profit margins.

2. Know which expenses can be tax deductible later on.

Part of the hardship of being a self-published author is there is no big-name entity out there in book world spreading the word about your upcoming release, your promotions, or you in general. You handle marketing on your own, and marketing can cost you a lot. Additionally, you will be paying for things like editors and cover designers for what you publish. A lot of this stuff is tax deductible, so keep a good and detailed record of everything in your accounting records.

3. Find professional help as soon as things get overwhelming.

If you do start bringing in a good amount of income from what you publish, you can easily feel a little overwhelmed with everything that you now have to be mindful of that you did not before. From the moment you start feeling overwhelmed about your finances, bring in a bookkeeping service to help. The sooner you do, the better it will be because you will be less likely to make costly mistakes with your accounting methods.

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